Weekend Writing Warriors

Hey there! Sad day, since this is my last snippet before summer since spring semester has started. It’s been great to be back over break, thanks so much for everything! To meet some new authors, read some great writing, or join in the 8-sentence fun, stop by at Weekend Writing Warriors!

This is a continuation from last week’s snippet (here), though I have skipped some paragraphs and rearranged for the sake of snippet flow. In this scene, Falcon has been captured by the Helyx gang and is being harvested for her Amaranthine magic. Creative punctuation has been used to fit into the eight sentences.

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With one last awful gurgle, Scar stopped struggling and slumped against the wall.

I stood over him, blood trailing from the corners of his eyes, his mouth, lines raked into his neck where he had try to claw the blood out–I had done this, this horrid, violent thing.

I had boiled a man from the inside out, without touching him.

I balled my hands into fists to stop them from shaking–Blood snaked down my arms, mirroring the lines that glowed silver-blue with Amaranthine.

I stared down at my hands–They had done this, I had done this. I grinned–My magic wasn’t useless after all.

It was deadly.

I turned and ran, leaving my victim slumped against the wall.

_________

There you have it! Thanks so much for all the support over break, and I look forward to being back this summer 🙂 Until next time, happy 8sunday!

Blog Post and Novel Excerpt © Victoria Davenport and the Coffee.Write.Repeat. blog

Weekend Writing Warriors

Hey y’all! Classes have started again, so I’ll only post one more snippet to finish this scene before the spring semester gets into full swing. To meet some new authors, read some great writing, or join in the 8-sentence fun, stop by at Weekend Writing Warriors!

This is a direct continuation from last week’s snippet (here). In this scene, Falcon has been captured by the Helyx gang and is being harvested for her Amaranthine magic. Creative punctuation has been used to fit into the eight sentences.

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Scar’s face turned red–He coughed, and it caught at the back of his throat, trapped–choked. A gurgle slipped out, mangled–The bowl fell from his hands, and shattered as it hit the ground, dashing my blood against the wall.

The boy froze, and cast an anxious look at him, “Are you alright, Scar?”

Scar couldn’t speak.

His hands went to his throat, clawing at his skin and drawing blood. His skin paled to ash, his eyes bulged–His scream came out a strangled gurgle.

The boy ran to him as Scar’s legs buckled beneath him–He cried for help, and two more boys rushed in, shooting a glance at me before rushing to Scar’s side in panic. They circled him like headless chickens, lost.

_________

That’s it! I will finish this scene next week, so make sure you check it out 🙂 Thank you for reading, and look forward to your snippets this week! Happy 8sunday!

Blog Post and Novel Excerpt © Victoria Davenport and the Coffee.Write.Repeat. blog

Weekend Writing Warriors

Hey there! Winter break is coming to an end, so only two more posts until I have to go back for spring semester. Going to make the most of it, though 🙂 To meet some new authors, read some great writing, or join in the 8-sentence fun, stop by at Weekend Writing Warriors!

This is a direct continuation from last week’s snippet (here). In this scene, Falcon has been captured by the Helyx gang and is being harvested for her Amaranthine magic. Creative punctuation has been used to fit into the eight sentences.

_________

The boy seemed eager to comply.

I grit my teeth against another scream as his ragged knife tore into my flesh, prying skin from muscle–Desperately, I tried to focus my energy as Asa had tried so often to teach me, his chest glowing with energy, skin and fiber knit together at his touch.

But nothing happened.

Of course it didn’t, it was hopeless–I may have Amaranthine blood, but I was pathetically, hopelessly human.

Scar leaned against the wall, sipping from the bowl as he watched the boy harvest me. I stared at him, and willed all of my rage against him–He was everything in this world I hated. He had hurt the only friends I ever had before I met the pack, he hurt everyone he ever came in contact with, and enjoyed it–He lived off of everyone else’s pain.

And now he was going to kill me.

_________

That’s it! Read on next week to find out what happens 🙂 I cant wait to read all of your snippets this week, happy 8sunday!

Blog Post and Novel Excerpt © Victoria Davenport and the Coffee.Write.Repeat. blog

Weekend Writing Warriors

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you enjoyed the holidays 🙂 To meet some new authors, read some great writing, or join in the 8-sentence fun, stop by at Weekend Writing Warriors!

This is a continuation from last week’s snippet (here), though a couple paragraphs have been skipped. In this scene, Falcon has been captured by the Helyx gang and is being harvested for her Amaranthine magic. Creative punctuation has been used to fit into the eight sentences.

_________

I could see the taint of madness in his eyes–He was beyond reason, but I had to try. “But my blood is tainted with humanity–You can’t know what effect it will have on you.”

Scar laughed, a sound that reached out with dead fingers and gripped me by the bones, “Lying isn’t going to save you–You’re nobody’s Pet now. We’ll drop your body off at your doorstep so your perfect little family can see the pain you died in.” He ordered the boy with the knife to bring over the bowl that collected my blood–It sloshed with the movement, a dark red-black, and laced with a shimmer that only I could see–Amaranthine.

As I watched, Scar raised it to his lips and drank. He grinned, and his teeth shone red with blood–A wolf tearing into a kill.

“I’m done with her–Drain all of it, even if she’s dead.”

_________

There you go! I will continue this scene next week, so make sure you check it out 🙂 Thank you for reading, and look forward to your snippets this week! Happy 8sunday!

Blog Post and Novel Excerpt © Victoria Davenport and the Coffee.Write.Repeat. blog

Weekend Writing Warriors

Hey there! Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas 🙂 To meet some new authors, read some great writing, or join in the 8-sentence fun, stop by at Weekend Writing Warriors!

This is a direct continuation from last week’s snippet (here). In this scene, Falcon has been captured by the Helyx gang and is being harvested for her Amaranthine magic. Creative punctuation has been used to fit into the eight sentences.

_________

“What do you want?” I hissed through clenched teeth, “I’m not with Crank anymore.”

“Yeah, I know, got yourself a pretty little family now–But this has nothing to do with Crank, I only want you.”

“If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with–You get nothing out of torturing me.”

A snake of a smile crept across his lips, “Oh I’m not torturing you, but you’ve been keeping that precious magic of yours all to yourself–It’s rude not to share, ya know.”

The other thugs laughed, too hard–Eager to please their master. They were weak, nothing more than sheep following a wolf, but I knew just the monster that Scar was. I’d seen the marks he used to leave on the other girls–Being Crank’s Pet was the only thing that had saved me from him. But there was nothing to save me now.

_________

Thanks for reading! I will continue this scene next week, so I hope you stop by. I look forward to reading all your amazing posts this week! Happy 8sunday 🙂

Blog Post and Novel Excerpt © Victoria Davenport and the Coffee.Write.Repeat. blog

Weekend Writing Warriors

Hey all! It’s been a long time, but I am finally on Christmas break and I’m so excited to be able to join in again for a little while 🙂 I thought I would share some snippets from my manuscript Ember, which is out on submissions now. You can read my previous WeWriWa snippets here. To meet some new authors, read some great writing, or join in the 8-sentence fun, stop by at Weekend Writing Warriors!

In this scene, Falcon has been lured and captured by the Helyx gang and wakes up being harvested for her Amaranthine magic. Creative punctuation has been used to fit into the eight sentences.

_________

Pain snapped me back into awareness.

A scream tore from my throat at the fire lacing its way up my arm–I opened my eyes to find a Helyx tracing the lines in my skin with his knife. I thrashed against my bonds, and the knife jolted across my arm, taking strips of flesh as it went.

A man watched from the end of the room, his eyes wicked in the flicker of candle-light–A scar ran from his forehead to his jaw, revealing him as the leader of the Helyx gang, Scar. “Stop,” he said to the boy cutting my arm,  “I want to talk with her.”

He stopped–The blade dripped blood onto the floor in fat drops. My fists curled, my nails dug into my palms to fight the pain in my arm.

“Didn’t think you would see me again, did you Pet?” Scar taunted with a grin.

_________

There you have it! The next few posts will continue this scene, so I hope you come back next week. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with y’all and reading all the great posts this week! Happy 8sunday 🙂

Blog Post and Novel Excerpt © Victoria Davenport and the Coffee.Write.Repeat. blog

TBAS Snapshot

I know I missed last week, but it’s finals and life has been crazy for me. But good news, I’ll be done with the semester after this week and free for an entire month! But here’s the snapshot for this week with an extra long excerpt as promised 🙂

Title: Ember

Current word count: 81,117

Words written this week: about 2,000

Words cut this week: about 2,000

What I’m working on: Polishing. I worked with an editor for the first 10k and used her comments to apply to edits to the rest. I added a couple action scenes, cut down some other ones, and polished the prose and voice. It really made a huge difference, even the small details and changes. I wanted to really perfect it before pitmad, SFFpit, and PitchMas. Also, I just made a couple big submissions, so fingers crossed! 🙂

Favorite lines: 

As I watched, Scar raised it to his lips and drank. He grinned, and his teeth shone red with blood. A wolf tearing into a kill.

“I’m done with her. Drain all of it, even if she’s dead.”

The boy seemed eager to comply.

I grit my teeth against another scream as his ragged knife tore into my flesh, prying skin from muscle. Desperately, I tried to focus my magic as Asa had tried so often to teach me, his chest glowing with energy. Skin and fiber knit together at his touch.

But nothing happened.

Of course it didn’t. It was hopeless. I may have Amaranthine blood, but I was pathetically, hopelessly human.

Scar leaned against the wall, sipping from the bowl as he watched the boy harvest me. I stared at him, and willed all of my rage against him. He was everything in this world I hated. He had hurt the only friends I ever had before I met the pack. He hurt everyone he ever came in contact with, and enjoyed it. He lived off of everyone else’s pain.

And now he was going to kill me.

Scar’s face turned red. He coughed, and it caught at the back of his throat, trapped. Choked. A gurgle slipped out, mangled. The bowl fell from his hands. It shattered as it hit the ground, dashing my blood against the wall.

The boy froze, and cast an anxious look at him. “Are you alright, Scar?”

Scar couldn’t speak.

His hands went to his throat, clawing at his skin and drawing blood. His skin paled to ash. His eyes bulged. His scream came out a strangled gurgle.

Goal for next week: Rock out SFFpit and PitchMas! (After finals, of course)

Weekend Writing Warriors #18

Hey all! This week is bittersweet, as it is my last WeWriWa post for a little while. (Check out all my posts here) To meet some new authors, read some great writing, or join in the 8-sentence fun, stop by at Weekend Writing Warriors!

In this scene, Kera is with Torren, Mina, and her now-mindless mother, searching for her sister Hana. They go back to the cave where Kera left her, but she is not there. Kera starts to panic, and searches frantically for some sign her sister might have left for her. It is the first time she realizes Hana is missing.

_________

I turn back to the fire, now dead, and sift through the ashes. Still-hot embers scorch the skin of my palms, but I’m too desperate to care. There has to be something.

“Told you ferals are mad,” I hear Mina murmur from behind me.

A hot coal strikes my hand and I cry out.

My mind shudders, and is struck with images–but this time, they are not foreign, but familiar.

Hana’s round face and smart black eyes, glowing amber in the light of the fire–Thunder beside her, standing guard. An orb of light glows between them, shifting with color and energy.

The images let go like a cold grasp releasing me and I crash back into my body, shuddering and broken.

_________

This is the very first time she has a vision, and it starts a whole other chain of events. It is actually much more detailed, but I couldn’t fit it into the snippet, so you just get a preview 🙂 But I thought I would share one of her visions since they become a central part to the story. I hope to share more sometime, (when I’m settled in to my new apartment, a new school, and a full load this semester) but for now, this is my last WeWriWa post. Thanks so much for all of the great feedback, interaction, and support. Best of luck with all your writing 🙂

 

Blog Post and Novel Excerpt © Victoria Davenport and the Coffee.Write.Repeat. blog

 

Weekend Writing Warriors #17

Hey all! Thanks for stopping by 🙂 This snippet is from my WIP, Nightfire, and a direct continuation of last week. You can check out other snippets from this book, or my other book, Ember, here. To meet some new authors, read some great writing, or join in the 8-sentence fun, stop by at Weekend Writing Warriors!

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This makes his smile widen. “And that’s why I like you.”

Mina snorts. “When you wake up with your guts spilling out of you, I’m going to say I told you so. Ferals only know how to deal with blood and bullets, and that’s all they’ll get from me. She’ll have a bullet in her brain and I’ll be long gone, guts intact.”

I like this one. At least, when she wants to kill me, I know how to handle her.

______

It’s not quite the end of the scene, but thought that was a good place to stop while still giving a good impression of their personalities 🙂 I have one more post planned before my break. Thank you so much for reading, and look forward to your posts as always. Happy 8sunday!

 

Blog Post and Novel Excerpt © Victoria Davenport and the Coffee.Write.Repeat. blog

Weekend Writing Warriors #16

Hey all! Thanks for stopping by 🙂 This snippet is from my WIP, Nightfire, and a direct continuation of last week. You can check out other snippets from this book, or my other book, Ember, here. To meet some new authors, read some great writing, or join in the 8-sentence fun, stop by at Weekend Writing Warriors!

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His smile lingers. “Your eyes–they don’t hide anything, unlike most people, I like it.”

I feel heat rise up from somewhere—whether anger or shame, I can’t tell. I was prepared for civilians to hate me, to try to kill me. All my life, anything outside of Mother and Hana has been dangerous, and deadly–I can handle something trying to kill me, but now I am faced with something that isn’t, and I am clueless.

I harden my gaze instead, boring into him. “Then you are stupid–It is never smart to trust. Anyone can kill you, even if you like them–I would kill you, and not even blink.”

______

I’ll post one more snippet from this interaction to finish, then I am debating one more post before I take a break. Thank you so much for reading 🙂 Look forward to your posts, and happy 8sunday!

 

Blog Post and Novel Excerpt © Victoria Davenport and the Coffee.Write.Repeat. blog